Sequential article vending mechanism for plural sources

ABSTRACT

An article vending mechanism includes a frame that supports a front stack of staggered articles, such as beverage cans, and a rear stack of staggered articles in a single vertical column, means pivotally supported by the frame for releasing the lowermost one of the articles in both of said stacks for downward movement, a storage shelf means pivoted on said frame and disposed beneath said releasing means under one of said stacks to receive one of the released articles while permitting the other released article to pass by, and a discharge chute which slopes forwardly and downwardly to a discharge opening, said chute having a pocket beneath the rear end of the rear stack to temporarily receive the rear end of the article dropping therefrom onto the chute so as to disengage it from the front article that has been dropped onto the storage shelf.

nite States Eatent 1 1 1111 3,770,163

Guthrie Nov. 6, 1973 SEQUENTIAL ARTICLE VENDING Primary ExaminerRobert B. Reeves MECHANISM FOR PLURAL SOURCES Assistant Examiner-Francis J. Bartuska [75 Inventor: Edward H. Guthrie, Scottsboro, 420126 y lLrgqbgr-tflfi ggqerson eta}:-

57 ABSTRACT [73] Assignee: Selectivend, Inc., Des Moines,

Iowa An article vending mechanism includes a frame that p supports a front stack of staggered articles, such as bevl 'l led: 1972 erage cans, and a rear stack of staggered articles in a [21 I Appl. NO; 225,425 single vertical column, means pivotally supported by the frame for releasing the lowermost one of the arti- 52 11.5. c1. 221/114 221/312 R cles in of Said Stacks for downward movemem- 51 1 1m. cl... 1 I. B65g 59/06 Wage Shelf means pivoted Said frame and disposed 53 Field of Search 221/311 312 112 beneath Said releasing means under one of Said stacks 221/] 144 to receive one of the released articles while permitting the other released article to pass by, and a discharge [56] References Cited chute which slopes forwardly and downwardly to a discharge opening, said chute having a pocket beneath the UNITED STTES PATENTS rear end of the rear stack to temporarily receive the 1,767,634 6/1930 Weiss 221/193 X rear end of the article dropping therefrom Onto the 3,438,545 1322 g g chute so as to disengage it from the front article that 3,203,588 8/ ea has has dropped Onto the storage Shem 1 Claim, 1 Drawing Figure e 6 l7 a Q; :3 a J Q [F61 c E Z 0 X I l //j I 1 I [I ---..--..j l C SEQUENTIAL ARTICLE VENDING MECHANISM FOR PLURAL SOURCES BACKGROUND This invention pertains to an article vending mechanism, and more specifically to a discharge chute by which the article is delivered from a release mechanism to a discharge opening.

PRIOR ART It has been known heretofore to use a sloping discharge chute beneath a release mechanism that accommodates a plurality of stacks of staggered articles in a single vertical column, for instance such as taught in US. Pat. No. 3,454,192. However, problems have been encountered where one article catches on or hangs up on the end of an adjacent article during dispensing. This problem is particularly aggravated where the article constitutes a beverage can of the drawn aluminum type that has a bead at only one end thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to an article vending mechanism for dispensing from a plurality of stacks of staggered articles such as cans, and which has a discharge chute that is provided with a pocket into which the rear end of the rear article can temporarily drop, after which the front end pivots downwardly to enable sliding discharge of the article or can.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved article vending mechanism.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an article vending mechanism that employs a discharge chute which has been provided with a pocket for effecting disengagement of a released article from another article that has not yet been vended.

Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheet of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrativeexample.

ON THE DRAWINGS The single FIGURE is a side elevational view, partially broken away and partially in cross section, of an article vending mechanism provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

AS SHOWN ON THE DRAWINGS The principles of the present invention are particularly useful when embodied in an article vending mechanism such as illustrated in the drawing, generally indi- I cated by the numeral 10. The mechanism includes a frame 11 disposed within a cabinet 12 which has a discharge opening 13 shown more or less diagrammatically. On the frame 11, there are provided support means 14 for supporting two stacks of horizontal articles such as beverage cans in a single vertical column. The support means 14 includes a side wall 15 and a further side wall near the viewer which has been removed for ease of illustration. The forward end of the column includes a front wall 16 while the rear end of the column includes an adjustable spacer 17, here shown as being set to accommodate two cans C,C end for end. A releasing means 18 is provided to engage the lowermost article in each stack, and in the device with which the present invention is illustrated, the device includes a storage shelf 19 which is pivoted on the frame 11. When the releasing means 18 is actuated, the two lowermost cans in the stack are dropped, the rear'one being vended and the front one coming to rest on the storage shelf 19. The next time that a purchase is made from the machine, the storage shelf 19 is pivoted to release that can or article, the storage shelf 19 thus being operated out of phase with respect to the releasing means 18. The means 14-19 thus far described are disclosed and explained in sufficient detail to enable the reader to understand the present invention. For further detail as to construction, details of omitted parts, and operation thereof, the reader is directed to a copending application filed by Herman S. 'Fessler and assigned to a common assignee, the same being filed on Jan. 18, 1972, s Nil-.2 1 32 7399? a audqnsi In accordance with the present invention, the article vending mechanism 10 includes a discharge chute 20 that extends beneath the stacks of articles and which slopes forwardly and downwardly to the discharge opening 13, there being a pocket 21 in the chute 20 disposed beneath the rear end of the rear stack of articles. The pocket 21 has an upwardly directed surface 22 or bottom which slopes downwardly and rearwardly, the bottom 22 having a front-to-rear length which is less than one-half the length of the article C. As drawn, the

can or article C that is in the pocket is shown in a dynamic condition at the moment of first engagement with the pocket, and under this condition, the can will slide rearwardly, namely to the left as drawn, so that the left end of the can will engage the rear end of the pocket, and in doing so, the forward end of the can will become disengaged from any article with which it may have become hung up. Even with the can C disposed as far rearwardly as it can slide, the center of gravity will be disposed forwardly of the front end of the bottom 22. The bottom 22 along with the adjacent portion of the chute 20 intersect to .define a fulcrum 23 on which the can C can then rock; whereupon the can, by virtue of the slope of the chute 20, initiates a forward downward slide on the chute to the opening 13.

The release mechanism 18 is intended to be representative and other mechanisms may be employed, for example one that will handle a greater number of stacks of articles. Where there is a tendency for the vending mechanism to malfunction, whatever the structure might be, if the malfunction is due to one article-hanging up endwise on the next, one of the pockets 21 is disposed beneath each such stack where any such tendency may exist.

Although various minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon, all such embodiments as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an article vending machine having a frame for holding a pair of articles in a contiguous end-to-end relationship and disposed front-to-rear in the frame, the machine having discharge mechanism for simultaneously dropping the pair of articles downwardly, the rear article striking a chute which extends downwardly toward the front of the machine and the front article striking and being held by a shelf structure, the disfront potion of the chute, the rear of said rear portion joining an upwardly extended portion of the frame whereby a pocket is formed directly below-- the rear end of the rear article, the length of the said rear portion less than one-half the length of the rear article such that said junction functions as a fulcrum about which the rear article pivots after falling into the pocket and as the article is acted upon by gravity to slide down the front portion of the chute. 

1. In an article vending machine having a frame for holding a pair of articles in a contiguous end-to-end relationship and disposed front-to-rear in the frame, the machine having discharge mechanism for simultaneously dropping the pair of articles downwardly, the rear article striking a chute which extends downwardly toward the front of the machine and the front article striking and being held by a shelf structure, the discharge mechanism capable of then dropping the front article onto the chute, then repeating the discharging process for another pair of articleS supported by the frame on top of the first mentioned pair of articles, the improvement comprising structure for preventing the front end of the rear article from catching on the rear end of the front article in each pair of articles, the structure comprising: the rear portion of the discharge chute directly below the rear article bent downwardly so as to slope rearwardly from the top junction thereof with the front potion of the chute, the rear of said rear portion joining an upwardly extended portion of the frame whereby a pocket is formed directly below the rear end of the rear article, the length of the said rear portion less than one-half the length of the rear article such that said junction functions as a fulcrum about which the rear article pivots after falling into the pocket and as the article is acted upon by gravity to slide down the front portion of the chute. 